Flashback March 2015: Andhra Pradesh got new capital Amaravati

The third month of the year witnessed a big change in history of Andhra Pradesh with Amravati being declared as the new capital of the state. Conferring Bharat Ratna on Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malviya, and evacuating the Indians from Yemen were among the few important events that occurred during the month of March.

Amaravati declared as the new capital of Andhra PradeshOn March 23, Amaravati was declared as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh to be developed near Thullur. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad became the capital of the newly formed state Telanga as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (2014). Thus, Amaravati is being developed to serve as the capital of Andra Pradesh. However, Hyderabad would remain the joint capital of both states for a period of time not exceeding 10 years until the infrastructural work of new capital is completed.

Supreme Court declared Sec 66 A of IT Act, 2000 unconstitutional

The Supreme court of India declared Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000 unconstitutional on 24th March 2015. This section entrusts the goverment with power of arresting a person for posting offensive content on websites. The main reason for declaring Section 66A as unconstitutional was that it was misused by cops and vaguely worded.

The court further said that this law need to be erased from the law books as it has gone much beyond the reasonable restrictions put by the Constitution on freedom of speech. The court, however, upheld the validity of section 69B of the IT Act that allowed the government to block websites if their content had the potential to create communal disturbance, social disorder or affect India's relationship with other countries.

Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi won Indian Open Super Series

Shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Srikanth Kidambi made Indian Open Super Series a great success. Continuing with her amazing form, Saina broke the jinx of never winning the Indian Open with a splendid performance. World No. 4 Srikanth Kidambi also won gold in men's singles category while competing against Viktor Axelsen. Cherry on the top was the announcement of Saina's World No. 1 position in BWF rankings. This was a proud moment for the entire nation.

India's most heroic mission in Yemen

The government decided to evacuate hundreds of Indians stranded in the strife-torn Yemen. On March 29, Air India flew its first flight to airlift hundreds of Indians. The flight operations began after India got permission to operate flights from Sana'a for three hours a day.

The ministry also set up a 24-hour Control Room to monitor the situation in Yemen where all the airports have been shut down. There was a chaotic situation in the gulf countries after Yemen witnessed fierce battle between Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a founder member of BJP, was conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, on March 27, 2015. The announcement for the prestigious award for Vajpayee, the first Prime Minister from outside the Congress party to serve a full five-year term, came on December 24 last year, a day before he turned 90 Vajpayee.

He has faded from public life due to age-related illness, is lauded as a statesman and has been often described as the moderate face of BJP. He has been credited with taking bold initiatives, notable among them being the historic bus journey to Lahore in 1999 when he signed the landmark Lahore Declaration with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with both sides pledging to push for peace and security.President Pranab Mukherjee bestowed Bharat Ratna on Madan Mohan Malviya

Members of Malviya's family received the Bharat Ratna from Mukherjee at the traditional ceremony held in the historic Durbar Hall with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with other senior Cabinet ministers were present.